advanced reading copy of ADOPTING GRACE
67 of 186

Chapter 5 – Owning My Part “Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.” Confucius One Mother’s Day, I received a public Facebook message from our eldest child. He referred to me as “trill.” After I consulted my handy Google urban dictionary to determine if this was an insult or compliment, I realized that it was high praise. “True + real = trill. Meaning someone that always keeps it 100 at all times, stays true to oneself, and stays real no matter what happens to the end.” Wow, what a compliment and a standard that in daily living I struggle to embody. It is a gift of grace when someone who has hurt us owns the truth and is trill about that. Genuine apologies are restorative. My college fellowship leader who insisted that immature students sign agreement to the “Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy,” comes to mind. After I left this university and over many years, I heard murmurings and friends of friends of friends reporting that he experienced great pain and suffering within his family. One year, around homecoming weekend, there was a widespread invitation to a reunion of this Christian group. Several friends reported back a poignant moment of humility and grace. This same man, about twenty years later and softened by grief, came before many of the young and impressionable hearts he had coerced. ADOPTING GRACE ADVANCED READING COPY 67